Door-latch.



W'. SGHUMACHER.

DOOR LATCH.

APPLIUATION FILED 23.25, 1910.

970,651. Patented sept.20,191o. A

V `Zl W/AW// Juve/M264,

WILLIAM SCHUMACHER, 0F READLYN, IOWA.

DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

AppIicaton led April 25, 1510.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910. Serial No. 557,501.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l/VILLIAM SCHU- MACHER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, re-

siding at Readlyn, in the county of Bremer, State of Iowa, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Door-Latches; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in door latches, moreparticularly to latches employed upon the doors of barns, warehouses andlike structures, and has for one of its objects to simplify and improvethe construction and increase the efficiency and utility of devices ofthis character.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch device which maybe actuated from either side of the door, and in which provision is madefor holding the dooropen as well as closed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction as hereinafter shown and described andthen specifically pointed out in the claim; and, in the drawingsillustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is aside elevation of a ortion of a door and portions of the jambs rominside the door, Fig. 2 is a section on lthe line 2 2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a erspective View ofthe wall catch, detached.

The improved device is designed more particularly for swinging doors,and in the drawings a portion of a conventional door is represented at10 preferably in two thicknesses, and hingedly united as at 11 andclosing against a jamb l2, the latter having a stop 13 of the usual formagainst which the door closes. A portion of the wall at the oppositeside of the doorway opening is represented at 14. The improved devicecomprises a double latch member preferably formed from a single rod bentinto the required shape and formed with a hand grip 15 which is mountedby clips 16-17 upon one side of the door. A portion of the latch memberis directed transversely of the loop 15 as shown at 18 and extendsthrough a relatively large opening 19 in the edge of the door 10, and 1sthence continued along the opposite face of the door, as shown at 20,and curved outwardly to form a hand grip as shown at 21. By this meansthe latch member is mounted to oscillate in the clips 16-17, and thismovement causes the portion 20 of the latch member to move upwardly anddownwardly, as will be obvious.

The portion 20 of the latch member extends through a relatively largeopening 22 formed in the stop 13, and connected to the inner face of thestop is a latch plate 23 having a recess with which the portion 2O ofthe latch member engages when the door is clased. The inner face of thelatch plate is inclined as shown in Fig. 3 so that the latch member willautomatically engage over the latch plate when the door is closed. Bythis arrangement the portion 18 of the handle is protected within therecess 19, so that when the door is opened no danger exists of thisportion of the combined handle and latch coming in contact withsurrounding objects. The recess 22 being located entirely within thedoor stop portion of the frame 12, forms a guard for the portion 20 ofthe combined latch and handle, and prevents the latter from beingaccidentally displaced or actuated when the door is closed. The recess22 also enables the latch member 23 to be located flatwise against thestop so that the point does not project into the doorway.

Connected to the door 10 at 24 is a s ring 25 having an intermediatecoil 26 an engaging at its free end and around the loop 15, as shown at27. By this means the spring exerts its force to maintain the latchmember in its horizontal osition or with the inwardly directed portion18 in contact with the bottom of the recess 19 of the door. By thisarrangement when the door is opened the latch member is maintained in ahorizontal position, and when the door is closed the portion 20 of thelatch member rides over the keeper 23 and engages behind its recess asshown in Fig. 3. To release the door it is only necessary to elevate thehand grip portion 21 or depress the hand grip 15 according as to whetherthe operator is at the outside or the inside of the door. The latchmember is thus operative with equal facility either from the inside orthe outside of the door.

Connected to the wall 14 and spaced from the hinge side of the doorwayopening is another keeper 28 having a recess in its lower end as shownat 29 to receive the hand grip 15 when the door is opened, thus lockingthe door in open position until released by de- 4the spring and theholding screws, and is therefore not liableato get out of order, or tobecome disarranged by rough usage.

What isclaimed is The combination with va door having a transverserecess'in its free edge-and a door frame having a stop against which thedoor v bears,.said stop having a .cavity registering -f withthe recessof the door when the same is closed, a rod having oppositely extendinghand grips and connected at one end, one of said hand grip portionsbeing swingingly coupled to the door at one side and the connectingportion extending through the door recess and likewise extending intothe stop recess when the door is closed, and a keeper connected to the.frame stop and extending over the recess thereofand into the path of oneof the handle portions of therod.

In testimonyk whereof,I aiX my signature, in presenceoftwo witnesses.

f Witnesses:-

FRED@ SGHUMACHER, EDWARD HARMS.

WM; A'Soncini/ionen.` I Y

